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224 SCOTTISH ANNALS
the art of writing, he filled the office of antiquary to certain
men of religion, to relieve his poverty.
Thereafter at Furness, tonsured and having professed
the regular life, when with competent ease he had acquired
abundance of writings, aided by a three-fold gift, namely
keen intelligence, unerring memory, ready eloquence, he so
advanced in little time that he seemed to show great promise.
As time passed he was sent with some brethren to the
island of Man ; and by the pleasantness of his eloquence
and the cheerfulness of his face, and also because he was of
a build tall and robust, he so pleased the barbarians that he
was sought by them as their bishop ; and their desire was
fulfilled. 1
1
et eorum quidem completum est desiderium.
Olaf, king of Man, had written to T[hurstan], archbishop of York, ask-
ing him to consecrate one Nicholas as bishop of Man ;
adding, " and let
not the clamour of the [monks] of Furness disturb you in any way, nor
their unjust complaint ; for unless they are silent they shall sooner lose what
they seem to have among us than acquire more, since it increases not with
God's favour or men's." Raine's York, iii, 59-60. Cf. another letter written
by Olaf about the foundation of the bishopric, ibid., 58-59, while " E."
was abbot of Furness.
"
R. de T., in Chr. of Ste., etc., iv, 167 : The first bishop [of the island
of Man] had been Wimund, a monk of Savigny ; but because of his cruelty
he was expelled and deprived of his eyes." So R.W., E.H.S. ed., ii, 250,
who has " harshness " (importunitaa) instead of " cruelty." The- Furness
monks were Cistercians of Savigny. Furness abbey was founded in 1126.
"
Chr. of Abps., in Raine's York, ii, 372 : The same Thomas [II of
York] ordained also Wimund, bishop of the isles ; and [Wimund] made
profession to him and gave it in '
writing, which thus : begins I, Wimund,
of the holy church of Skye/ etc."
But Thomas II of York died in 1114; and it was not till 1134 that
"
Olaf gave to Yvo, abbot of Furness, part of his land in Man to found an
abbey in the place which is called Rushen. And he enriched the church in
"
the Isles with revenues, and endowed it with privileges ; (Chr. Reg. Man.,
in Langebek's Scriptores, iii, 222.) Whether this was the occasion of the
resuscitation of the bishopric of Man is not clear. The Chr. Reg. Man.
records an earlier attempt to resuscitate it : ed. Munch, 29.
Wimund went with the colony of monks to Rushen, and was consecrated
bishop probably by Thomas's successor, Thurstan.
Wimund's successor was John, a monk of Seez. R. de T., u.s., s.a.
1152 ; R.W., u.s., s.a. 1151. M.P., H.A., i, 291. For Wimund's last years
cf. W. of N., infra, s.aa. 1152-1153.
It is impossible to identify William of Newburgh's Wimund with the
Malcolm Macbeth (or Mac Heth)
of the Scottish chroniclers. Wimund
represents himself as being the son of Angus. After his father's death in
1130, and the confiscation of his estates, Wimund became a monk in Furness
abbey. Thence he went to Man, probably in 1134; and not long afterwards
became bishop of that diocese. He was unconquered by David, but
it is implied that he was blinded during David's reign ; not later than 1151,
if we may argue from J. of H., 326, infra. And in that year or the next a
new bishop was appointed in Man.
Apart from his name we have no indication in the early chronicles as to
the parentage of Malcolm : he is called Macbeth in the Chronicle of Holyrood
; 38, 42, A Malcolm, said by O.V. to be the illegitimate son of Alex-
'